Hatshepsut was born c.1508 BC. Her mother’s name was Queen Ahmose and her father’s name was Thutmose I. Her name meaning, Foremost of Noble Ladies, was the fifth pharaoh of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt. She was one of most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any other woman. Hatshepsut was described by early scholars as only having served as a co-regent from about 1479 to 1458 BC. Hatshepsut was the second known to have formally assumed power as the “King of Upper and Lower Egypt” after the Queen Sobekneferu of the Twelfth Dynasty. In comparison with female pharaohs, her reign was very long.
While she was a pharaoh she re-established trading relationships lost during a foreign occupation and brought great wealth to Egypt. That wealth enabled her to initiate building projects that raised the caliber of Egyptian architecture to a standard. She oversaw the preparations and funding for a mission to the Land of Punt. Many trade goods were bought in Punt, notably myrrh, which is Hatshepsut’s favorite fragrance. Hatshepsut was one of the most known builders in ancient Egypt. During her reign, so much statuary was produced that almost every major museum in the world has Hatshepsut statuary in their collections. The masterpiece of Hatshepsut’s building projects was her mortuary temple complex at Deir el-Bahri.
Hatshepsut was the elder daughter of Thutmose I and Queen Ahmose, the first king and queen of the Thutmoside clan of the eighteenth dynasty. In her childhood, she is believed to have been favored by the Temple of Karnak over her two half-brothers by her father. She had a close relationship with both of her parents. Upon the death of her father in 1493BC, she married her half-brother, Thutmose II, and assumed the title of Great Royal Wife. Thutmosa II ruled Egypt for either three or thirteen years, where it has been believed that Queen Hatshepsut had a strong influence over her husband. Hatshepsut had only one daughter. Her name was Neferure. When Thutmose II died, he left behind only one son, a young child named Thutmose III. Later Hatshepsut became the regent of Egypt, where she had the responsibilities of state and was known by the leadership in the temple. While Thutmose III was a co-regent of Egypt, the royal court recognized Hatshepsut as the pharaoh on the throne until she died. Thutmose III ruled as pharaoh for more than thirty years after Hatshepsut died.
Hatshepsut was given reign about 22 years by ancient authors. While short reigns she would have ascended the throne 14 years after the coronation of Thutmose I, her father. She was able to assume power as early as 1512BC or as late as 1479. People believed that she reigned as pharaoh from 1479 to 1458BC, but there is no proof of the beginning date. She had been trained in her duties as a daughter of the pharaoh. During her father’s reign she held the powerful office of God’s Wife. She had taken a strong role as Queen to her husband and had a lot of experience in the administration of her Kingdom by the time she became Pharaoh.
Her remains were long considered lost, but in June 2007 a mummy from Tomb KV60, was identified to be her remains by Zahi Hawass. He was the Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities. One of the things they found was a molar with one root that fit the mummy’s jaw as it had a gap that had one root as well. The molar was found inside a small wooden box inscribed with Hatshepsut’s name. They believed that Hatshepsut was about 50 years old and she died from a ruptured abscess after removal of a tooth. Since this was the cause, they believed she would not have lived much longer. There are signs in her mummy of bone cancer, as well as liver cancer and diabetes. Hatshepsut died as she was approaching what we would consider middle age given a typical lifespan. The date of her death and the time when Thutmose III became pharaoh of Egypt is considered to be Year 22. There was no mention of the cause of here death, however, CT scans would indicate that she died of blood infection while she was in her 50s. They have suggested that she had arthritis, bad teeth, and diabetes. For awhile her mummy was believed to be missing from the Deir el-Bahri. In March 2006, Zahi Hawass claimed to have located the mummy of Hatshepsut. In June 2007 it was announced that Egyptologists believed they identified her mummy in the Valley of the Kings. Hatshepsut had begun construction of a tomb when she was the Great Royal Wife of Thutmose II, but the scale of this was not suitable when she became pharaoh. She then went on to make a second tomb. It was very likely that when she died she was in the tomb along with her father.
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